In the Air – Art+Auction's Gossip Column

On Friday the street artist Plastic Jesus — best-known for his Banksy-esque stencil murals — installed fake items on the shelves of five Los Angeles area Best Buy stores, complete with customized labels, causing confusion among customers and employees alike, the Los Angeles Times reports. “We are sold this equipment, often with the pre-release hype lasting many weeks, and told ‘this gadget is THE one’ the one that will change our life, only to be left disappointed,” the artist told the Times.

“Another gadget you don’t really need,” boasted the labels. “Will not work once you get it home. New model out in 4 weeks. Battery life too short to be of use.” The warranty, meanwhile, warned: “If you are dumb enough to buy it you deserve all you get.”

“We realized pretty quickly, and the folks at the stores took them down,” Best Buy spokesperson Jon Sandler told the Times.